A New Beginning
by Christina TM
Summary: Third in the NEW SERIES. Charlie's in a bad situation, and there's only one person who can help him. CHAPTER FIVE IS UP
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: _The Mighty Ducks _is property of Disney. Kaley Bombay, Stella O'Brien, and Joshua O'Brien are property of me.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hello, I'm back. This is the third in my _New Series. _It's also by far the most intense. Writing it was difficult; I have never written anything so horribly angsty before. The next three are much more lighthearted, I can assure you of that.

WARNINGS: This story does deal with child abuse but it _is not graphic. _There is one "fade to black" beating here in the prologue, and that is the extent of it. This is rated PG13 _only _because it deals with child abuse. There is no profanity, sex, or anything else to merit this rating. Rest assured that this story has a happy ending.

RATED: PG13 for the aforementioned reasons.

A NEW BEGINNING – PROLOGUE

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Conway sat huddled in his bedroom. He could hear banging sounds from outside. He recognized the noises-Scott had returned.

Scott Farquhar was Charlie's stepfather. When Charlie's mother, Casey, was around, he seemed the perfect husband-charming, gentlemanly, loving, and caring. But when Casey wasn't around, Scott became a completely different person. Tonight Casey was out of town visiting her sister Helen, leaving Charlie and Scott alone. Charlie knew it was going to be a bad night. Scott would go out and get drunk, and then come home and hit Charlie.

_You should tell your mother, _some little voice in the back of Charlie's mind told him. But Casey was finally happy. After her disastrous first marriage, she'd found a man who made her happy. Charlie didn't want to ruin that.

The door to Charlie's bedroom banged open, and Charlie closed his eyes, _Oh, I _knew _I should have had Coach Bombay fix that lock…_he thought to himself.

A rough hand seized Charlie by his collar. "I found you, you little brat," Scott slurred. "And this time, you're gonna get it good."


	2. Chapter One: The Invite

A NEW BEGINNING – CHAPTER ONE – THE INVITE

"Dad! Mail's here!"

"Thanks, Kaley," Gordon Bombay said as his daughter Kaley ran into their apartment with an armful of envelopes.

"Oops." Gordon heard the sound of papers falling to the kitchen floor.

"No need to put those on the counter or anything, Kay," Gordon joked as he got up from the armchair

"Sorry," Kaley said without much sincerity. She was already sorting through the mail. It had become her unofficial job, since she was such a control freak. "Electric bill, insurance bill…Ooh! A letter for me from Audrey, and…" she held up an envelope. "Something for you."

Gordon took the envelope and eyed it. "It's from the Junior Goodwill Games Committee."

Kaley stood on tiptoe and peered at the letter. "What does it say?"

Gordon smiled at his daughter's impatience and opened the envelope. "It says, 'Dear Mr. Bombay: you have won a million dollars."

"Daddy!" Kaley swatted his arm.

"OK, OK," Gordon laughed. "It says…" he scanned the letter. "It says that we, the USA Ducks, have been invited to a tournament in Oslo in three weeks."

"Norway?" Kaley wrinkled her nose. She hated cold weather.

"Yes," Gordon affirmed.

"Are we going?" Kaley asked, bouncing on her toes excitedly.

Gordon put the letter on the counter. "Well, that depends." He reached into a cabinet. "We can go…" he handed Kaley the Duck Whistle. "If you round up the Ducks."

The whistle was barely in Kaley's hands before she was out the door.

Two hours later the team sat in Hans' Skate Shop, chattering excitedly. All except for Charlie, Gordon noticed. The team captain sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, staring straight ahead. It wasn't like him, and it sparked some concern in Gordon.

"Listen up!" Gordon commanded his team. The talking ceased and they all looked at him. "We're headed for Oslo, Norway, in two weeks." He stopped to allow cheering. "This is an invitational. It's not as big a deal as the Junior Goodwill Games. We're playing three games: Canada, Oslo, and Italy.

"No Icleand?" Connie Moreau piped up, referring to the team's ordeal with the Iceland Vikings at the Junior Goodwill Games the year before.

"No Iceland," Gordon confirmed, drawing sighs of relief from the players.

"Is Miss MacKay coming?" Greg Goldberg, the team's goalie, asked. Michele MacKay was the team's tutor from the Junior Goodwill Games.

"Yes, she is," Gordon said. "And I'm pleased to tell you that Miss MacKay will be Mrs. O'Brien in a few months."

Connie and Kaley squealed, while the boys reacted with nods and smiles.

"We fly out in nine days," Gordon said. "Who wants to be in charge of keeping the out-of-state Ducks informed?"

Kaley raised her hand, and Gordon nodded. She was good at such things as that.

"The flight is nine days from today at nine AM," Gordon said. "Start packing! No team practice until we get to Norway. If you don't have a passport, you need to get one. Everyone understand?"

Variations of "yes, Coach," and "we get it" came from the Ducks as they dispersed.

"Charlie," Gordon snagged Charlie's arm as the boy tried to get away. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, Coach," Charlie said in a hoarse voice. Gordon noticed the dark shadows under his eyes. _The kid looks like he hasn't slept in days. _

"You sure?" Gordon asked.

"Mm-hm," Charlie nodded. "Just tired."

Reluctantly, Gordon released Charlie's arm. "All right." Charlie had always been honest before, but he wasn't right now. _Something's wrong, _he thought. _Something is very, very wrong._


	3. Chapter Two: Oslo

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Now that summer has arrived, I have time to write! I'm also hard at work on my _Lord of the Rings _parody _Lord of the Ringtones, _coauthored with my friend ArcticWolf, so I'm dividing my time between that and this. For the record, I don't know how long a plane ride to Oslo would take, never having been on one. In addition, I'm having a rather unfortunate problem with my Internet service right now, so updates may be few and far between.

A NEW BEGINNING – CHAPTER TWO – OSLO

Charlie and Fulton dragged their luggage into their hotel room. The twenty-hour plane ride across four time zones had left the team tired, moody, and jetlagged. Charlie hoped he could use this as a reason for his quietness and general listlessness. But it wouldn't last long. Fortunately, he'd gotten Fulton for a roommate instead of Adam. Fulton didn't know him as well, and was far less likely to grill him about his behavior.

"This sure is nicer than the UCLA dorms," Fulton commented, shutting the door.

Charlie gave a mute nod in agreement.

"We should probably go to sleep," Fulton suggested. "Six AM's gonna come early."

"Yeah," Charlie concurred dispassionately.

The teammates readied themselves for bed. Charlie made sure to change in the bathroom. Fulton probably thought it strange-after all, they changed in front of each other in the locker room-but it was better than letting him see the bruises. Scott had given Charlie a whopper the day before they left. Hopefully, the mattress would be soft or sleeping would be decidedly painful.

"Good night, Captain Duck," Fulton said, reaching for the light.

"Mm-hm," Charlie said, lowering himself gingerly onto the bed. He exhaled with relief as he felt the softness of it. _Good, now I'll just have to watch out for that bruise on my shoulder, _he thought.

Fulton turned the light out, and Charlie pulled the covers over his head. _He's not here, he's not here, he can't hurt me, _he thought. He repeated it to himself over and over again. Even though he was thousands of miles away from Minnesota, Charlie had a terrible feeling Scott was waiting outside the door.

The still-jetlagged USA Ducks gathered for breakfast at six the next morning. The boys sat at the opposite end of the table from the girls, who were pumping Miss MacKay for details about her wedding.

"Is he cute?" Connie asked.

"I think so," Miss MacKay said, taking a bite of her bagel.

"What's his name?" Julie asked.

"Joshua O'Brien," Miss MacKay answered.

The girls all squealed. "That is _such_ a romantic name!" Kaley gushed around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

Miss MacKay laughed nervously. "I'll tell him you said so."

"What does he do?" Connie interjected.

"You mean his job?" At Connie's nod, Miss MacKay answered. "He's a pediatrician."

"Is he good?" Julie asked.

"He hasn't lost a patient yet," Miss MacKay answered. "At least, that's what he tells me."

"Enough, ladies, enough," Coach Bombay said. "Let Miss MacKay eat. You need to eat, too."

On the other end of the table, Portman, Fulton, and Luis were watching the girls with disgust.

"They're being such…_girls," _Fulton said.

Ken shrugged and picked up a piece of bacon. "They're allowed," he said. "They _are _girls."

"They don't usually act like this," Portman said.

"Weddings do strange things to women," Luis said. "Take it from me. When my sister Juanita got married, she lost her sense of humor and became all frantic. I love her, but man, she was a pain."

Charlie let out a slight yelp, and the guys turned to look at him. "You all right, Charlie?" Luis asked.

"Yeah," Charlie replied in a shaky voice. "I bumped into a door last night and got a bruise on my shoulder."

"Oh," Luis seemed satisfied with that. "All right."

"Ten more laps!" Gordon shouted. "Move it!"

The Ducks groaned, but obediently continued their laps.

"Gordon," Michele moved over to him. "Have you noticed how strangely Charlie's been acting while we've been here?"

Gordon focused on the red jersey in the middle. "No," he answered truthfully. Charlie had seemed  out of sorts when they were in Minnesota, but Gordon had not noticed strange behavior since then.

"He hasn't been himself this whole trip," Michele said. "He's been quiet and withdrawn. That's not like him, Gordon."

"Jet lag," Gordon suggested.

Michele shook her head. "No. He's not just tired, Gordon. Something's _wrong. _The jet lag isn't bothering anyone else nearly as much."

"Your female intuition is probably more reliable than my male oblivion," Gordon conceded.

"You know him better than I do," Michele said. "Are there problems at home? Are things all right between his mom and stepfather?"

_Mom and stepfather…_Gordon hoped his game face would hold up. "As far as I know, things are fine," he said. "Charlie's an emotional kid, Michele. I'm sure he'll come out of this."

Michele stood outside the cafeteria as the team finished dinner. She hadn't been satisfied with Gordon's answer of "he'll come out of this." She knew something was wrong, and she was determined to find out.

"Charlie?" Michele asked as the team exited. When the team's captain turned around, she beckoned him over to her. "Could I talk to you for a second?"

Charlie came over, looking wary. "Is this about math?" He asked. "I did my best."

Michele shook her head. "This has nothing to do with school, Charlie," she said, silently evaluating his condition. His eyes were shadowed and his skin abnormally pale. "Coach Bombay and I were noticing that you haven't really been yourself since we've gotten here. Is everything all right?"

Charlie nodded. The response seemed automatic, Michele thought. Too quick. "Are you having trouble in school?" She didn't think such was the case; she'd seen Charlie's grades.

"No," Charlie said.

Now for the tough question. Michele took a deep breath. "Are there any problems at home?"

Charlie tensed up. It was subtle, but noticeable. "No." The reply was toneless and insincere.

That sent off a warning bell in the tutor's brain. "OK," she said. "Go ahead, Charlie."

Charlie left, and Michele looked after him. She'd minored in psychology, and had a keen interest in child psychology. Charlie was demonstrating all the signs of an abused child. The thought made Michele cringe. What if it was true? What would happen?

"Oh, Charlie," she murmured. "We've got to get you out of there."


	4. Chapter Three: Suspicions

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I am so, so very sorry for keeping you all waiting this long. I've been out of town and other stuff has come up. But enough editorializing. Let's get started.

A NEW BEGINNING – CHAPTER THREE – SUSPICIONS

There was something wrong with Charlie. Fulton was positive. _I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I know something's wrong with him. And if I know, it's probably a safe bet everyone else knows, too. _It was obvious Charlie hadn't been sleeping. He was constantly yawning, distracted, and depressed. Fulton had heard his teammate wake up after one whopper of a nightmare the night before. Any attempt to discuss things was met with a curt, "I'm fine, Fulton." It wasn't like the Ducks' captain.

_No time to think about that now, _Fulton thought. The USA Ducks were nearing the end of their first game, and unless a tragedy occurred they were going to win.

Charlie stumbled over his skates and fell into the boards. _He's too tired to play, _Fulton noticed.

Adam scored a goal and the buzzer counted down from ten. The Ducks skated back to the box, slapping high fives and celebrating. Charlie attempted to appear interested, but mostly just got bumped aside by his teammates' jostling.

Fulton awoke at four-thirty AM to an unidentifiable sound. Still half-asleep, he fumbled for the light and turned it on. Charlie was sitting up, his back pressed against his headboard. His eyes were wide open, but he didn't seem to see anything.

"Charlie?" Fulton asked cautiously. When his teammate didn't respond, the Bash Brother moved closer. "Charlie?"

Charlie moved his head towards Fulton, but his eyes retained that "unfocused" look. "Is he gone?"

"Who?" Fulton asked, perplexed.

"Scott," was Charlie's toneless answer.

"Who-your stepfather?" Fulton asked.

Charlie nodded. "Is he gone?"

"He's…he's not here, Charlie." Fulton was beginning to get scared. "Are you OK? You're not, like, sleep-talking or anything, are you?"

Suddenly, Charlie's eyes cleared. "Never mind," he said. "I'll just go back to sleep now."

"Wait a second." Fulton put his hand on Charlie's arm, but the other boy jerked it away. "That was weird. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Charlie said tonelessly. "Just let me go to sleep."

Fulton complied, but waited a moment before going back to his own bed. _My gosh__, _he thought. _Is Charlie's stepfather abusing him. _

Gordon stood outside the locker room. Practice had gone well, but Fulton, Adam, and Dwayne had all raised concerns about Charlie. Gordon decided it was time to confront Charlie about this. It had gone on long enough for Gordon to really believe something was wrong.

The rest of the team had left and Charlie was still inside. Gordon poked his head in. "Charlie-" He stopped short.

Charlie's back was facing the door. As he pulled off the white T-shirt, Gordon noticed that his star player's back was covered in bruises. Some were old, some looked fresh. "What happened to your back, Charlie?"

Charlie jumped. "Coach! You scared me."

"What happened to your back?" Gordon repeated, stepping into the room.

"Nothing," Charlie said.

_"Nothing?"_Gordon asked disbelievingly.

"I was playing hockey!" Charlie replied defensively.

Gordon was careful to keep his voice calm. "Charlie, you don't get bruises like that from playing hockey."

Charlie sat down on the bench and swiped at his eyes.

"Charlie?" Gordon's concern was now giving way to outright worry. "What happened?"

Charlie shook his head and stared at the floor.

"It's OK," Gordon sat down on the bench. "You can tell me."

"My stepdad," Charlie began. "He…he gets drunk when Mom's not around." The teen sniffed and wiped his eyes. "Then he comes home and…he beats me up."

Gordon could not believe what he'd just heard. He'd never really liked Scott Farquhar, but he'd just chalked it up to jealousy and remorse that he hadn't proposed to Casey when he had the chance. This was unthinkable. "Does your mom know?"

Charlie shook his head, beginning to cry harder. "No. She's-she's happy with Scott. I won't…I can't ruin that."

"Charlie." Gordon forced the Ducks' captain to look at him. The boy looked scared out of his mind. "You need to tell her. You can't let Scott keep doing this to you. He's committing a crime, and he'll give you permanent damage or kill you if this keeps going."

"B-but Mom's finally happy," Charlie said again. "She loves Scott. If I tell her…"

"You have to tell her," Gordon ordered gently. "There's no way your mom would want Charlie to keep doing this to you, even if she does love him."

Charlie buried his head in Gordon's side. He was shaking like a leaf. "Don't tell anyone, Coach," he begged. "Not until we get home."

Gordon placed his arms around Charlie, being careful not to put too much pressure on the bruises. "I won't," he promised.


	5. Chapter Four: Discussions

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This may be the last update for awhile. I'm starting the fall semester in school. I'll update as frequently as I can, but things may slow down until winter break. Be strong and take courage: the story's about half over.

A NEW BEGINNING – CHAPTER FOUR – DISCUSSIONS

Not telling anyone was easier said than done. After the Ducks' second game (which they lost), Connie, Kaley, Julie, Ken, and Adam had all expressed concerns about Charlie. In five more days, the team would be headed home and they would all find out.

Gordon knew the hard part about all this would be not socking Scott in the nose when they got back to Minneapolis. How could he treat Charlie that way? Had he abused Casey as well? That would be the real clincher. Charlie hadn't mentioned it, but if Casey didn't know her son was being abused, it was possible that Scott was also hitting his wife and Charlie was unaware.

It was well after midnight and Gordon was sitting in the hotel's lobby pondering the situation. Six o'clock was going to come early, but he couldn't sleep.

"Gordon?"

Gordon looked up, startled. "Michele." The team's tutor was standing above him. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Michele said.

Gordon pondered his answer. "Thinking," he finally said. It seemed like the most innocuous answer. "You?"

Michele sat down in the chair next to Gordon. "Being an insomniac," she sighed. "What's wrong with Charlie?"

Gordon snapped his head up, unable to contain his surprise. "What?"

"I saw you two in the locker room," Michele said.

Gordon stood up, took the teacher by the arm, and led him down the hall. "What I'm telling you has to be kept _completely _confidential," he said firmly, and then took a deep breath. "Charlie's stepfather has been abusing him."

Michelle's eyes filled, but she didn't look surprised. "I know."

"You know?" Gordon asked, trying to keep his voice down. "How?"

"I asked him what was wrong a few nights ago," Michele said. "I asked if there were problems at home, and he got all tense. He was exhibiting classic abused child symptoms." She wiped her eyes.

"We have to do something," Gordon said decisively. "We cannot allow Charlie back in that house."

Michele nodded in agreement. "Come with me."

Gordon obeyed. "Where are we going?"

"My room," Michele said. "I'm going to call my fiancé's sister. She's an attorney; she could help us."

"What's her name?" Gordon queried as Michele unlocked her door.

The petite teacher pushed the door open. "Stella O'Brien."

"Stella O'Brien?" Gordon followed Michele in and closed the door. "I went to law school with her. The only person I ever bothered to like, with the exception of Kaley's mom."

Michele sat on the edge of her bed. "Then you know how good she is." She picked up the phone, dialed a number, and waited. "Stella? It's Michele."

Gordon sat next to Michele, close enough to hear Stella's unmistakable Boston accent through the receiver. Gordon could picture the tiny blond sitting behind her desk overlooking Boston Harbor.

"Yes, Stella, your brother's treating me fine," Michele was saying. "Um, actually, everything's not OK. I'm in Norway with the Ducks, remember the team I tutored last year?...Well, their coach, Gordon Bombay…Yes, he told me…No, I'm not going out with him. We have a problem. I'm gonna let him tell you about it." Michele handed the receiver to Gordon.

"Stella?" Gordon said into the receiver.

"Gordon!" Stella greeted, her accent making his name sound like "Goahdin." "Michele tells me there's a legal problem."

"Yeah, there is." Gordon explained things to Stella.

The lawyer was silent for a moment. "OK," she said. "The first thing you'll have to do is get a restraining order for Charlie and his mom, and then they'll have to find another place to live. I assume Mrs/ Farquhar is going to divorce her husband?"

"Um, actually…" Gordon stammered. "She doesn't know."

"About the abuse or her plans to divorce her husband?" Stella asked, half joking.

"Either."

"Well, that complicates things," Stella said. "Is Mr. Farquhar abusing his wife as well?"

"Possibly," Gordon said. "Charlie says he doesn't know."

"You'll need to act quickly on this," Stella advised. "As soon as you get home, you and Charlie both should speak to his mom about this. And I mean _as soon _as you get home. Chances are good Charlie won't keep up his nerve for long."

Gordon sighed and closed his eyes. What a mess this was going to be. "Thanks, Stella." He hung up the phone. "This is going to be a long fight," he told Michele.

Outside, Adam stood against the wall. He didn't want to believe what he'd just heard. Charlie's stepfather? Abusive? _So that's why Charlie's been acting so weird. _All the pieces fell into place for the co-captain. _I can't believe it! My best friend is being beaten up by his stepfather!_


	6. Chapter Five: Revelations

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'M BACK! Did you miss me? Sorry this chapter's so short. Hopefully another update will come soon.

A NEW BEGINNING – CHAPTER FIVE – REVELATIONS

The Ducks had just played their final game. They'd lost, escaping with the silver medal while Italy took the gold. They were naturally disappointed, but Coach Bombay had told them they had nothing to be ashamed of. They'd played their butts off and gotten a medal. In the absence of a pizza party (the food was nowhere to be found in Norway), the team was sitting in Coach Bombay's room, eating some sort of Norwegian fish and watching _Monty Python and the Holy Grail _in Scandinavian.

During one scene that had the team in hysterics, Adam slipped out quietly, snagging Coach Bombay on his way. "Can I talk to you?" He asked quietly.

Coach Bombay nodded. "What's on your mind, Adam?" He asked when they got outside.

"Um…" Adam stammered, looking at his feet. "Charlie."

Coach Bombay kept his face remarkably neutral. "Yeah?"

"I, uh, I heard you and Miss MacKay talking the other night," Adam confessed. "I know about Charlie's stepdad."

An alarmed expression came over the coach's face. "Have you told anyone?"

"No!" Adam said quickly. "I thought I shouldn't, 'cause maybe I didn't hear right." He paused and looked his coach in the eye. "Did I?"

Coach Bombay closed his eyes and nodded. "Listen to me, Adam," he said seriously. "Do not tell _anybody. _Charlie asked that I keep this quiet until we got home. I shouldn't have even told Miss MacKay. Don't even let on to Charlie that you know. Understand?"

"What are you going to do?" Adam asked fearfully.

Coach Bombay looked down and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know, Adam. This is all going to unfold when we get home, and it's going to be really messy. Charlie and his mom will both need a lot of help and support."

Adam nodded. "I know."

A small smile twitched at Coach Bombay's lips. "You're a good friend, Adam. Charlie's lucky to have you."

The duo reentered the room, both trying to act like nothing happened. Coach Bombay returned to his seat in the back and Adam took his place next to Charlie. Now that his suspicions were confirmed, Adam found it impossible to look at the Ducks' captain the same way. He wanted to hug him and just take it all away. But he couldn't. _We'll put your stepdad behind bars, Charlie, _he silently promised his friend. _And everything will be OK again. You'll see._


End file.
